Adjustable fuel pumps



April 1962 v. GUARNASCHELLI ET AL 3,027,847

ADJUSTABLE FUEL PUMPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1960 \lrlll. L t 1'4 1 INVENTORS. VINCENT GUARNAS CH E LLI ERNEST Fv RAUCH BY Z ATTORNEY April 1962 v. GUARNASCHELLI ET AL 3,027,847

ADJUSTABLE FUEL PUMPS Filed Feb. 11, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'llll INVENTORS. VINCENT GUARNASCHELLI ERNEST F. RAUCH BY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,027,847 ADJUSTABLE FUEL PUMPS Vincent Guarnaschelli, Alton Ave, Greenlawn, N.Y., and Ernest F. Ranch, 10 Flo Drive, Syosset, N.Y. Filed Feb. 11, 1960, Ser. No. 8,007 4 Claims. (Cl. 103150) This invention relates to fuel pumps for internal combustion engines, particularly to fuel pumps such as are used in automobiles and trucks, and the primary object is the provision of certain new and useful improvements in fuel pumps of standard construction whereby upon failure of the pump or upon noticeable or substantial loss of efliciency caused by wear upon the pump diaphragm or in the actuating mechanism or linkage thereof, the pump may be quickly and easily restored to eflicient operation.

Our United States Patent No. 2,764,942, dated October 2, 1956, discloses adjustable means for restoring a weakened fuel pump, wherein the diaphragm has lost its original flexibility owing to wear, to eflicient working condition. The present invention embodies useful and practical improvements over the invention as disclosed in the said patent, whereby both the installation and the operability of the adjustable fuel pump are greatly simplitied, with the elimination for the need of any special type or form of threaded bolts.

The above broad as well as additional and more speciflc objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the drawings are intended primarily for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and partly in section, of a complete standard fuel pump for an automotive internal combustion engine, embodying the improvements provided by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 4, with the pump housing flange and the screw bolts omitted.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the invention wherein the fuel pump housing is mounted directly against the motor casting, with parts broken away and partly in section.

FIG. 6 is a view of the motor casting to which the fuel pump housing is attached, per so, taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is in part a plan view of FIG. 5 and in part a horizontal section taken through the motor casting and the screw bolts for attaching the pump housing thereto.

FIG. 8 is a reduced side elevational view of the top portion of the pump housing of FIG. 5, including a pressure gage attached to the pump outlet, the addition of the gage also being applicable to the pump housing of FIG. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the standard housing in some types of fuel pumps, which encloses the cam-actuated rod 11 operated by the engine in the well known manner. The housing 19 is considered hereinafter as though it were part of the engine to which it is attached or connected; the present invention does not contemplate any alteration or modification of this housing. This housing is provided with the usual vertical flange 12 having two horizontally spaced threaded holes 13 therethrough, so that by means of threaded bolts passed therethrough the flange of the pump housing may be attached to the flange 12. In place of the standard or usual pump housing flange, the instant invention utilizes a vertically elongated flange 14 having, preferably, a straight horizontal top edge 15.

The flange 14 is integral in a casting with the pump housing 16 which, except for the flange 14 is of standard construction. This housing includes the essential operating parts or members such as the diaphragm 17, the diaphragm stem 18, the spring 19 which surrounds the stern between the diaphragm and the base 20 of the compartment below the Jdiaphragm. Above the diaphragm the housing 16 provides the fuel chamber enclosed by the housing top portion 21, and the usual fuel inlet is provided at 22 and the outlet at 22a. The stem 18, which is slidable through an opening in the base 20, has an opening in its lower end in which a hook 23 on the rocker arm 24 engages to reciprocate the stem vertically in response to the vertical reciprocation of the camactuated rod 11. The other end of the rocker arm is provided With a cap 25 adapted to have the rod 11 register therein for actuation of the pump, the spring 26 serving to urge the cap down upon the rod. All of this mechanism or linkage, except for the rod 11, is integral with the pump housing 16, or, rather, is all operatively mounted within the pump housing at the factory, as standard equipment.

The flange 14 is provided with two horizontally spaced longitudinal or, normally, vertical slots 27, having a width equal to the diameter of the holes 13 and alignable therewith.

An adapter plate 28 of substantially the same dimensions as the flange 14, is provided for the purpose made clear below. The opposed longitudinal edges 29 of the flange 14 are beveled, as is clear in FIG. 4. The plate 28 has both its longitudinal edges 30 doubled back at an angle equal to the angle of the bevels 29, and the plate is mounted against the flange 14 with the latter snugly slidable therein in, preferably frictional, engagement with the edges or flanges 30 of the plate. The plate is provided, at a suitable distance from its bottom edge, with holes 31 of the same diameter as the holes 13 and at the same distance apart. The flange 14 is attached to the flange 12, with the adapter plate 28 between the two and mounted on the flange 14 as described above, by means of screw bolts 32 passing through the flange 14, through the plate 28, and through the flange 12, with the holes 13, the holes 31, and the slots 27 all in alignment.

It is apparent that, since the plate 23 contains holes 31, which are always aligned with the holes 13 in the flange 12, after installation the plate is not movable with respect to the flange 12. Owing to the slots 27 in the flange 14, however, the latter is vertically movable with respect to the flange 12. When it is necessary to lower the pump housing 16 with respect to the flange 12 after wear of the diaphragm and, generally, also of the pivots or other working parts of the mechanism between the rod 1 1 and the diaphragm, in order to tighten the pivots and the diaphragm to restore normal eflicient operation of the pump, the pump housing is repositioned at a lower level in a simple manner. The bolts are loosened and the flange 14 is slid down a short distance, perhaps one-sixteenth of an inch, and the bolts are again tightened. Since the plate 28' is immovable with respect to the flange 12, and since the plate is also immovable with respect to the flange 14 in all directions except the vertical because the side flanges 30 provide vertical guide members which restrict the flange -14 to vertical movement, it is apparent that in its new position the diaphragm will remain untilted or twisted with respect to the'rocker arm 24. In

LB other words, it is impossible for the pump housing to be twisted out of its proper position with respect to the housing or any of the actuating mechanism of the pump during movement to, or in, its new position.

Another advwtageous result of the novel improved structure recited above, is that the original assembling of the pump unit including both housings 10 and 16 is substantially simplified. When the bolts 32 are about to be tightened, the pump housing 16 is urged upward to its highest possible position as the original setting thereof, and all guessing or juggling of the housings, one with respect to the other, is eliminated by having the bolts engage, or having the housing 16 stopped in its upward movement of the bolts with, the bases of the slots.

In order to avoid the escape of air or fluid past the passage through the two flanges and the plate 28, through which the rocker arm 24 and its associated parts extend, a countersink surrounding the passage through the flange 14 is provided, which is filled with a gasket 33. These aligned passages through the flanges and the plate are indicated at 34 for the flange 14, at 35 for the plate 28, and at 36 for the flange 12. Defining these passages as aligned obviously refers to their providing a continuous passage and does not imply that the surrounding edges of the three passages are or need be aligned.

The plate 28 including its side flanges 30 is preferably made of sheet metal for strength as well as for a degree of resiliency in the flanges 30 so that the flange 14 is firmly yet slidably held against the plate.

When a fuel pump loses its efficacy owing to long wear, say, for example, after twenty-five thousand miles, the pressure at the outlet of the fuel pump drops from an original pressure of, say, four pounds to a considerably smaller pressure. In order that the user may at all times be able to check this pressure, it is intended to install a pressure gage 37 in the outlet flow line through the provision of a tap connection 33. Also, after the pump has been repositioned downward, its pressure can be read on the gage, and it can be moved downward until the pressure again reads that which it originally read.

It is the practice among some manufacturers of automotive vehicles to dispense with a separate housing of the type shown at 10, external of the motor block or casting, to house the cam-actuated rod 11 or its equivalent, and instead to mount the latter within the motor block. Such type of installation is indicated in FIG. 6, wherein the motor casting is shown at 39, wherein a vertical relatively wide opening or slot 40, equivalent to the passage 36, FIGS. 2 and 4, is provided in the casting, surrounded by a raised generally diamond-shaped boss 41 similar to the flat surface of the flange 12, FIGS. 1 and 2. Also, two horizontally spaced threaded holes 42 are drilled through the boss 41 and the casting, equivalent to the holes 13, FIG. 3. The cam actuated rod equivalent to the rod 11, FIG. 1, not shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, is positioned with respect to the opening in the same manner as therod 11 is positioned with respect to the opening 36-. It is thus obvious that a standard fuel pump housing, or a housing such as the housing 16, is readily attachable to the boss. 41 by means of screw bolts 12, with the protrudingend 25a of the rocker arm 24 engaged and actuated by the rod 11.

It is to be noted that the plate 28 has the same contour as the flange 14 of the improved pump housing 16. The shape of the flange 14 is approximately rectangular, having the top edge 15, the vertical side edges 43, and the bottom edge 44. The latter edge is composed of the two downwardly extending converging edge portions 45 which, at points equally spaced from the side edges 43, meet and blend with a downwardly extending curved portion 47 of theflange, outlined by the curved edge 46.

Cast integral with the motor block 39, surrounding the boss 41, is an. embossed or raised ridge in the form of a frame 48, similar in outline to that of the flange 14. The frame 48 consists of the top member 49, the side members 50, and the bottom edge 51. The central curved portion 52 of the bottom edge 5'1 of the frame is complementary to the corresponding portion 47 of the flange 14, and the side edges 50 are complementary to the side edges 43 of the flange 14, or, in other words, the flange 14 is registerable within the frame 48 with the bottom portion 47 in engagement vw'th the inner wall of the frame portion 52. The overall length or height of the flange 14 is less than the overall length or height of the frame 48; this is indicated in FIG. 5, showing the space between the top edge 15 of the flange 14 and the top frame member 49. As shown in FIG. 7, the flange '14 has its side edges 43 registering against the side members 50 of the frame. This registration is relatively snug but sufliciently loose to permit of sliding the flange 14 up or down within the frame; the side members 50 of the frame prevent wobbling of the flange while permitting up or down movement hereof. The same bolts 32 serve to secure the housing 16 to the motor block.

When a new pump is installed in a new or an old vehicle, the flange 14, in the case illustrated, is positioned within the frame with the edge 15 thereof in contact with the frame member 49; this is the original or starting position for a new pump. After the pump has deteriorated in efficiency through prolonged use and wear, the diaphragm and all of the associated functioning parts of the pump are restored to high efficiency by loosening the bolts 32, lowering the entire pump housing 16 by sliding the flange 14 downward a short distance, and retightening the bolts, as before described. The outlet fuel pressure may, as before, be tested on the gage 37, and further adjustment downward of the housing may be made until the desired increased pressure is obtained.

Among those manufacturers who attach the fuel pump housing directly to the motor block, there are some who mount the pump in a position which is upside down compared to that illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In such motor castings the frame 48 would likewise be positioned upside down compared with its position illustrated in FIG. 6, but the positioning of the pump housing with respect to the frame would be unaltered; that is, the starting or original position of the new pump would again be such that the edge 15 of the flange 14 contacts the member 49 of the frame.

It is to be noted that the flange 14 is insertible into the enclosure of the frame 48 directly by moving the flange at right angles to the plane of the frame. Thus, together with the fact that for its original position the flange is moved to engage its top edge 15 with the frame member 49, it is obviously very easy to install the pump and there is no guess work involved in securing it in its proper original position.

Obviously the frame 48 need not be made as a continuous endless ridge, as illustrated, for portions thereof which are not essential to provide the guide means required for proper functioning of the adjustable pump as set forth above, may be broken away or omitted.

Also, it is not essential for all purposes that the exact configuration of the frame 48, the flange 14, or the plate 28, FIG. 3, all have'the configurations shown, except that in all cases the opposed longitudinal sides or members must be parallel and, in use, vertical.

In the operation of thus changing the position of the fuel pump with respect to the actuating rod 11, all wear between operating parts of the mechanism is also taken up, and tightened, in addition to stretching the diaphragm.

In the case of some fuel pumps, instead of having an actuating rod such as that shown at 11, upon the top of which the end 25a of the rocker arm 24 is secured or mounted, the end 25a of the rocker is actuated by an arm or rod in horizontal position engaging the end 25a from above or below. In such cases the essential features of the improved fuel pump adjuster, or the adjustable fuel pump, remain unaltered.

The boss 41, FIG. 6, is obviously the equivalent of,

and serves the same purpose as, the flange 12 of the housing 10. Therefore, for all practical purposes, the housing 10 may be considered as a portion of the motor block, not shown, to which it is attached; it is customary in installing fuel pumps in such cases by first securing the housing 10 to the motor block, and then attaching the pump housing thereto with the rocker arm cap 25 positioned on the rod 11.

A further safety feature of the present invention is to be noted. That is, that if a bolt 32 should happen to loosen, or even if both bolts 32 should become loose to some extent, the diaphragm housing 16 is restrained from twisting or rotational movement by the flanged plate, FIGS. 1-4, or by the enclosure frame 48, FIGS. 5-7.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. An adjustable fuel pump for an internal combustion engine adapted to be vertically adjustably secured to the engine wherein the engine includes a vertical fixed housing portion having two horizontally spaced threaded holes therein and an elongated vertical passage therethrough positioned intermediate said holes and an enginecam-actuated vertically reciprocating member positioned adjacent said passage within said fixed housing portion, the fuel pump including a housing having therein a horizontal diaphragm, a vertically movable rocker arm, means connecting the diaphragm with one end of the rocker arm for axially reciprocating the diaphragm upon rocking of the rocker arm, and a flange on one end of the pump housing at right angles to the diaphragm having two horizontally spaced vertical slots therethrough and a passage intermediate therebetween, said slots having a width equal to the diameter of said holes, the distance between said slots being equal to the distance between said holes, the fuel pump housing being adapted to be slidably secured to the fixed housing portion with the end face of said flange facing the fixed housing portion with said holes aligned with said slots and said two passages at least in part mutually aligned and with the other end of the rocker arm in operative engagement with said member, and screw bolts adapted to be passed through said slots into said holes to secure the pump housing to the fixed housing portion, said flange having vertical side edges, a plate including a body portion of substantially the same length and width as said flange and having vertical side edges, doubled-back flanges extending from said vertical side edges of said body, said pump housing flange being slidably mounted on said plate with said body portion adjacent said end face and with said plate flanges frictionally engaging the vertical side edges of the pump housing flange, said plate body having holes therethrough aligned with said slots and having a diameter equal to the Width of said slots, said plate body having a passage therethrough aligned with the passage in the pump housing flange, said plate upon securement of the pump housing to the fixed housing portion as aforesaid having the holes therein aligned with the holes in the fixed housing portion and having said screw bolts passing therethrough.

2. An adjustable fuel pump according to claim 1, said doubled-back plate flanges extending at an acute angle to said body portion, said edge portions of the plate adjacent said vertical side edges thereof comprising bevels at an angle substantially complementary to said plate flanges.

3. In a fuel pump structure for an internal combustion engine consisting of a vertical housing portion fixed to the engine having two horizontally spaced holes therein and a passage therethrough positioned intermediate said holes, a fuel pump housing having a horizontal diaphragm therein, a vertically movable rocker arm and means connecting one end of the rocker arm with the diaphragm for reciprocating the diaphragm upon rocking of the rocker arm, an engine-cam-operated member positioned in the fixed housing portion adjacent the said passage therethrough and operatively engaging the other end of said rocker arm to rock the rocker arm, a flange on one end of the pump housing at right angles to said diaphragm having two horizontally spaced vertical slots therethrough and a passage intermediate the slots, the slots having a width equal to the diameter of said holes, the distance between said slots being equal to the distance between said holes, said flange being slidably mounted on said housing portion with said holes aligned with said slots and said passages mutually aligned at least in part, and screw bolts extending through said slots into said holes to secure the pump housing to the fixed housing, said flange having vertical side edges, a plate including a body portion of substantially the same length and width as said flange and having vertically side edges provided with doubled-back flanges, said plate having two horizontally spaced holes therethrough and a passage therethrough intermediate the holes in the plate, the plate being positioned with said body portion thereof between said fixed housing portion and said pump housing flange with said holes in the plate aligned with the holes in said fixed housing portion and the passage through the plate aligned with the passage in the fixed housing portion, the flanges on the plate being in frictional engagement with said vertical side edges of the pump flange.

4. The device set forth in claim 3, said doubled-back plate flanges extending at an acute angle to the body of the plate, said side edges of the pump housing flange having bevels at an angle substantially complementary to said plate flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,420,225 Chilcott May 6, 1947 2,440,175 Katcher Apr. 20, 1948 2,764,942 Guarnaschelli et al. Oct. 2, 1956 

